Chapter 2 - 2 Chapter 2: Poverty Has Not Afflicted My Ambition_1 (2/2)

Clearly afraid of being overheard by her father downstairs.

“I’ve eaten already!”

Qin Niu didn’t even lift his head as he headed towards his own home.

That irritated her, causing her to wrinkle her delicate nose.

She had tied the food box she was holding with a string, now she had to untie it.

The neighbor’s Ah Niu had been parentless since he was young, said to have been picked up from the mountains by the elderly bachelor, Uncle Liu. Last year, when Uncle Liu passed away from illness, Ah Niu didn’t cry or make a fuss, but sat silently beside the coffin for three days and nights.

He would kowtow to anyone who came in.

Seeing how pitiable the child was, everyone worked together to carry Uncle Liu to the mountains for burial.

After Uncle Liu’s death, nobody took care of Ah Niu.

At first, Ah Niu still diligently farmed their thin plot of land.

Later, due to his lack of farming experience, the harvest was very poor.

After paying the grain tax, he hardly had anything left, not even enough to feed himself.

After that, he started to squander.

All the slightly valuable things in his house were sold by him, and nobody knew what he spent the money on.

The village’s old drunkard, Zhang Banzui, claimed Ah Niu took the money to the city to drink away his fortunes, squandering it all.

He spoke with such certainty, as if he had seen it all.

Later, people from the neighboring villages also said they saw Ah Niu enter the city themselves.

So, the rumors gradually spread, and many people talked behind his back, criticizing Ah Niu for being lazy and indulging in prostitution and gambling.

Only Wang Wanyan didn’t believe Ah Niu was that kind of person.

Because she occasionally saw Ah Niu buying books at the bookstore when she went there to purchase books herself. However, Ah Niu probably had no money and only bought used books from others.

Additionally, she saw Ah Niu in a pitiable state and once tried to give him some money for food.

He firmly refused it.

Ah Niu, though poor, was not poor in spirit; he was very prideful at heart.

She took out the food, wrapped it in oil paper, and hid it in the wide sleeves of her robe.

“If I don’t take it to him, he’s most likely going to end up nibbling on those bitter and astringent wild herbs that are hard to swallow tonight.”

Wang Wanyan muttered to herself as she descended the stairs.

Once when she went to deliver food to Ah Niu, she had personally seen him eating tree bark and wild grass to stave off hunger.

Ah Niu returned to his extremely impoverished home, lifted the lid of the rice jar, and looked at the scant amount of unrefined rice left, silently calculating that with such a small quantity, it would barely last a month.

Their thin plot of land was infertile, also referred to as ‘poor backbone’ land.

Apart from the rampant growth of weeds, the crops he planted hardly grew at all. The corn he planted with difficulty last year was like a malnourished patient, weak and frail.

This type of infertile land could not retain fertilizer or water, the soil was prone to compacting, and there were many rocks underneath.

Moreover, they were chunks of stubborn rock that were impossible to clear away.

The spring had started awhile ago this year, and he had been contemplating which crops might yield a slightly better harvest?

The corn and wheat he had planted last year had very poor yields.

Fortunately, the grain tax for infertile land was much less than that for fertile land.

Otherwise, he would have had to pay the government instead of the other way around.

Outside the leaky wall, Wang Furen’s voice could be heard, “You child, are you sneaking off again to give that poor boy food?”

“I… I just want to help him out! Don’t you always say that doing good deeds brings blessings?”

It was Wang Wanyan’s crisp voice.

Very soft.

She wanted to secretly bring food to Ah Niu and had been caught by her father; she must be bowing her head now, with an attitude of admitting her mistake.

“You’re fifteen already, a girl running to his house every day, aren’t you afraid of people gossiping? You need to be aware of your reputation, don’t get too close to him. Your mother hopes that you can ascend to greater heights and become a phoenix. With your talents and beauty, you will surely marry a wealthy and influential gentleman one day, understand?”

Wang Furen earnestly advised his daughter.

All parents hope their children will become outstanding and lead a good life.

He would never allow such a beautiful daughter to marry a poor boy.

“I know, I know!”

Wang Wanyan didn’t dare to contradict her father and verbally agreed.

What she really thought, only she knew.

Unlike other girls who were clueless and obedient to their parents, she had her own opinions because she was well-read.

“I’ll come back right after I’ve delivered the food; otherwise, it will all spoil overnight.”

“Wait a minute!”

Wang Furen called out to his daughter.

“Or you can bring it to him instead!” Wang Wanyan thought her father didn’t want her to go.

“Go to the kitchen and get a small bag of corn and two pounds of meat to take to him. That boy’s harvest from his thin land was extremely poor last year, and he’s probably been going hungry. The day after tomorrow is my fiftieth birthday, and we have neighbors coming over. Consider it a reward for him.”

“Thank you, Dad!”

Wang Wanyan was extremely delighted.

“We have so many mouths to feed at home, don’t take too much.”

Wang Furen was worried his daughter didn’t realize how costly provisions were and would take too much, which would make him feel the pinch.

“I’ve got it under control!”

After a while, Wang Furen’s voice was heard again from outside.

“You girl, taking so much corn and such a big piece of meat, you really don’t know how expensive food is until you run a household! Oh well, the boy is starving down to his skin; I can’t bear to see the suffering in this world. Go on then!”

Despite being concerned, in the end, he didn’t stop her.

Qin Niu was starting a fire to cook, with only a few grains of unrefined rice in the pot and the rest filled with grass and tender tree bark.

As the fire grew, a distinctive aroma of green grass mixed with the scent of rice began to emanate.

That was the smell that came from the rich folks’ pig food.

Thump, thump, thump!

Someone was knocking at the door.

“Ah Niu, open the door!”

The crisp call pierced through the mottled wooden door.